Joyful Mysteries - Visitation
Mary set out in haste into the hill country to a town of Judah, where is entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth, her kinswoman. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby stirred within her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out in a loud voice, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child of you womb. Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The moment I heard your voice, the baby within me stirred for joy." Blessed is she who trusts God's words to her will be fulfilled.
Luke 1:39-45
As soon as Mary learns that her cousin is pregnant in her very old age, she hastens to her. There would be an urgent need for these women, caught up in mysterious happenings, to ponder the wondrous burdens committed to them. Both women, the older Elizabeth, long-childless wife of priest Zechariah, and Mary, the young unmarried and suddenly pregnant woman, have welcomed with joy the coming birth of their children, who are bound intimately to the will of God for his children. And because each has submitted to being a part of these wondrous ways of God, they and their children are intimately bound up together now and for the rest of their lives. Elizabeth is rejoicing because the curse and long humiliation of her barrenness has been lifted, and this child has been summoned as a prophet. Mary is rejoicing and pondering what this child conceived by the power of God will mean for her people and more immediately for her own life. The support they give each other other shows what strength they must take from their relationship as they face the strange new world they are carrying in their wombs. This decade can be especially meaningful when said by one whose family faces problems.